Divemaster Jobs

If you love to dive and are considering a diving career, it’s time to look into divemaster jobs. Being a divemaster is the first level of working as a scuba professional and may be the most fun of all the dive careers.

Divemasters typically work in idyllic tropical locations – clear waters, palm trees, tropical breezes, vibrant sunrises and sunsets, lively coral reefs, and abundant marine life. Dive shops hire people for divemaster jobs all over the world and its easy to find a job if you have the right certification from an internationally respected diving organization like PADI or SSI. After you complete your divemaster certification, which consists of logging over 60 dives, being 18 years old, knowing CPR, passing written, surface, and underwater tests, you’ll be ready to work in a tropical paradise. The world is your playground and you can choose between the Maldives, Thailand, Hawaii, Belize, Egypt, Japan, Aruba Madagascar, Mexico, or any other location you could imagine. Learn about discount travel packages on our partner site, FrugalMonkey.

Are you wondering what a divemaster does? The role of a divemaster changes with every dive shop, but in general divemasters lead dives. It’s awesome. You get to meet people that share your passion for diving and show them around your playground – the reefs that you love. When you dive a reef on a regular basis, you learn where sharks sleep, eels hide, seahorses relax, and stingrays hang out. So when you take your clients on a dive, you can impress them by showing them all the cool things about your reef. They’ll love you for it. You might even find a tip in your pocket after a good week of diving.

Divemasters must be responsible for the safety of all divers on your dives. If one of them bolts for the surface because a starfish scares him, you are responsible for trying to stop him. If a lobster bites one of them, you have to safely get her to the surface. If they don’t check their air supply and run out of air, you have to be ready to lend them your spare octopus.

If one of them has too much weight and drops like a brick toward the bottom of the ocean, you have to recover him. While most dives are just fine, divemasters carry a huge responsibility. You are responsible for someone else’s life.

You can make or break a diver’s trip. Divemasters need to be able to show divers amazing things underwater and keep them safe, but they also must be social with the divers. The divers are your clients. You need to build relationships with them – entertain them during surface intervals, make them feel welcome, loan them an extra mask if they need one. The best way to be successful is to go the extra mile with your clients.

Depending on your dive shop, you may also have other duties besides leading dives. You may need to fill tanks or cut fruit or greet divers. Dive shops are different, be sure to look into all your duties before you just sign on to work at any old dive shop.

There is no doubt about it – the divemaster job is a blast, but don’t expect to make too much money. Divemaster pay is largely dependent on where you work – the USA pays more than Honduras – because of the cost of living. But you don’t become a divemaster to make your millions. You become a divemaster because you love the ocean and you love people. It is hands down one of the best jobs in the world.